Mayor of Iguala and Wife Arrested in Mexico City Police Operation

José Luis Abarca, former mayor of Iguala (Photo: Reuters)

Ex Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca and his wife Maria de los Angeles Pineda Villa were arrested in a house in southern Mexico City early Tuesday.

Two key suspects in the police massacre of Ayotzinapa teacher training students last September 26 and 27 were arrested on Tuesday in a house they had apparently rented in Mexico City.

Press reports have repeatedly identified former Iguala Mayor Jose Luis Abarca as the official who gave the order for local police in the souther state of Guerrero to fire on the students, resulting in the deaths of six people, 25 wounded and 43 young students forcibly disappeared.

The former mayor’s wife, Maria de los Angeles Pineda’s family ties to the organized crime group United Warriors have also been noted in hundreds of press reports, and there is widespread speculation that the group is partially responsible for the forced disappearance or deaths of the students.

The day after the massacre, Abarca stepped down as mayor and has been a fugitive from justice since then.

Although punishment for the officials responsible for the massacre is a demand consistently raised by protestors, it is highly unlikely that the mere capture of the married couple will be accepted as a sign that justice is being done due to the level of impunity that exists in Mexico.

The demand is that the 43 disappeared students of the Ayotzinapa Teacher Training School be returned alive. Protests and other measures by angered supporters of the students and their families are expected to escalate this week.